First day of school

Yesterday was Ella's first day of preschool.

She dressed herself without me even having to ask in the morning. Chose a skirt to wear herself, and it wasn't pink! The only thing that she seemed a bit worried about was that we were going to be late and while we were walking the dog, she told me she wish she could just go to school NOW.

We arrived a couple of minutes early. I suggested Ella put her name tag on the 'helpers board', which she did. She explored the obstacle course/play equipment until the teacher opened the door of the class.

When we got inside, she walked straight up to the teacher - whom she'd never met before - and gave her the drawings she made for her last night and explained what was on them. "This is a person and he is scared of the monster. And this is a fairy." Then she sat down at one of the tables and played with the playdough, reminded me to show her where the toilet was and then moved to another table to engage in a game that was set up there. That's when I asked if it was ok for me to go and she just nodded, gave me a hug and a kiss and went back to her game.

In summary, she looked like she'd always been there. Not a surprise really. And it did make me feel proud.

When I arrived to pick her up at three, the kids were still inside sitting in a circle on little mats. After the assistant had opened the door, the teacher started sending them out one by one as she spotted their parents. When she called Ella's name, Ella crawled towards me on hands and knees, then came to a stop at the other end of the circle and rested her head on the ground in front of me. When I asked her what was the matter she said something like: "I'm sad because we have to leave."

Yes, school is a hit. As expected.